


Thumbs Up

by Flora (florahart)



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Gen, M/M, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-17
Updated: 2012-12-17
Packaged: 2017-11-21 09:31:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/596183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/florahart/pseuds/Flora
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny gets shot and has to make do without his words for a while</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thumbs Up

**Author's Note:**

> Written for h50_holidayswap, for ilmare_ilse on LJ. Her request was for Danny whump, team caring for him, and no permanent damage. The Steve/Danny is present, but barely.

The shot is so startling Danny literally doesn't know what hit him. 

It's been a long morning--wait, no, it's two-forty in the afternoon so that officially qualifies for a long _day_ \-- but yesterday's hard work paid off, and they've got four cranky-looking goons and their smug boss, who's in the midst of interrupting repeatedly to assure them they have nothing on him, good luck proving anything, what kind of idiot do they think he is as Danny stands before him finishing up Miranda anyway, and then, _cracrack!_...

...and Danny's on the ground, and when he turns his head a little, which hurts, the smug boss is next to him with his eyes fixed wide and his mouth startled open, and there are gunshots in the air around him--why? They got the guys already!--and what the hell happened here? He tries to figure out how to ask, and that's when Steve blocks the sun.

"Danno? Hey, you with me? You awake?" Steve's back-lit something fierce, but Danny knows what he looks like, knows his tone and the way his nostrils flare and how he gets careful when he's freaking out, and he _is_ freaking out, but there's also obvious relief in there and that's something. Relieved Steve is better than freaked-out Steve. He tries to answer, but all he can manage is a groan. He puts up a hand toward his face, but Steve catches it. "Yeah, no, your jaw's probably busted too, besides the nice new scar you're gonna have. Thumbs up if it hurts like a motherfucker."

Danny thinks for a second, then picks another finger to put up and turns his wrist in Steve's hand to display it, and he can see the white of Steve's grinning teeth in the dark of his face. 

Okay. Okay, so he got hurt. Steve's here, they're good, the bad guys are still caught. Right? Wait, why is Smug Boss dead? "Ooah... ha'nnnd?" he asks. Wow, okay, that was unintelligible.

"Sniper," Steve says. "Two shots, apparently after the boss here. Chin's on him. Fucking stupid, but right now it looks like you're collateral damage." He's crouched over Danny's head, and he has both Danny's hands in his. "Still with me, babe?"

Danny squeezes with both fists.

"Good man. All right, so the bus is on its way, and I wanna catch me a sniper."

Danny squeezes again, then manages, "Guh-aaayy ee." His whole mouth is apparently siding with the jaw on this broken thing, and there's no way that's enough information for Steve to make sense of, but Steve's silhouette overhead nods. 

"And we're supposed to have Grace tonight. I'll make sure she knows you're okay. Here's the bus. You good?"

Danny just squeezes again and lets Steve go--watches him jump up and sprint away, notices the red smear of blood on Steve's left hand abstractly, then realizes it's from him, that it's dripping on his neck. He's bleeding, a broken jaw that bleeds. He decides to try again with the HPD guy--a kid, probably a rookie, young like Danny can't believe is old enough to serve, Jesus, he's like four minutes older than Gracie--that shows up with the EMT. "Ooah... hah..."

"You got shot," the kid tells him. "Grazed, but _right_ on the jawbone."

"Bro'knn."

"Yah, brah. Definitely dislocated, probably broken under all the bleeding...yep. I heard you like to flap your gums, but I think you may be shit outta luck here. Better than the other dude, though."

Danny closes his eyes. "Kaay," he slurs. The other EMT has gauze and tape going on, a line in that's probably a sedative or something, and calm hands, and Danny lets them do their thing. Better than the other dude, yes.

\-- 

He doesn't realize he's dozed until he wakes with hands on his face, and then Danny, okay, has a tiny little freakout because people are touching his face right there where he can see but he can't feel them, and why was he unconscious, and also where the hell is he?

Oh, right, got shot. In the face? How does that even work? He remembers Steve over him, remembers the squeeze of his hands, and if he squints, he thinks there was something about a sniper.

"Detective?" It's not the HPD kid; this voice is female. Danny manages a noise that is some kind of stretched-out vowel of no meaning. "Good, you're awake. Can you understand me?"

Danny contemplates trying to nod, remembers they're touching his face, and instead tries to make a thumbs-up (not a rude one this time; that was just for Steve) with his right hand. He's pretty sure he accidentally takes a swing at someone trying to lift it, but that's not his fault; they have him on the good drugs.

Oh, which is why he can't feel his face. Well that's all right, then.

"Excellent. We're cleaning up the wound, but then we need to wait for some of the swelling to clear before we assess surgical needs." She--she? Someone, anyway--holds his hand up for him and asks, "Do you understand?"

Danny reaches to grasp her hand between his, whacking something again, and tries to look her in the eye. He pats when he finally locates the back of her hand, then tries to mime a writing utensil because they have his mouth packed full of something (maybe? Maybe that's just anesthetic? Hard to say), and she shakes her head. "Sorry, I don't really think you can hold onto a pen right now, but I'm supposed to tell you Steve has Grace covered, and he and Chin got the sniper. Good enough?"

His eyes close. Okay. Good. He blinks open again and shakes her hand, then manages a thumbs up for her, and that's about enough of that; he's going back to sleep.

\-- 

"Danno?" For a guy whose primary job used to involve things like infiltration, exfiltration, and recon, Steve is seriously awful at whispering. Either that, or he's just that anxious to wake Danny up, which, probably there's something to that. Danny makes a little grunt and opens one eye. "Hey. Nurse tell you everything's handled?"

Danny grunts again and brings his hand up where he can see it, then carefully points at his own face. 

"Okay, not everything. You still have surgery to go, and they're saying probably first thing in the morning for that. Do you want Grace to come here after, or tonight?"

Danny thinks about it for a minute. Grace will not like seeing him like this, but she hung in okay when he got shot _where she could see him_ on the camping trip, so probably she won't freak out. And she will feel reassured by the fact he's getting care.

And, if he's not lying to himself, he really, really wants to see her face, give her a hug. Steve is here, and he wants Grace here, too. "Mmmrrr?"

"Unless you're a purring cat, I don't know what that was." 

Danny flips Steve off again, then gestures for him to come closer. He holds out his hand and waits for Steve to take it, then starts drawing letters in his palm. M. I. R. R...

"Mirror. Only in the bathroom, and you're not that mobile. But honest, I think you won't scare her. Or scar her."

Danny rolls his eyes and points at Steve, then goes back to making letters. I. D. E. A. O. F. S. C...

"My idea of--I've adjusted for Grace parameters," Steve says. "You know I know. I think she should come by tomorrow, when they've got your jaw back where it belongs. Not that you'll look that much better because bruises are bruises, but at least your face will be the right shape.

Danny gives a thumbs up, and closes his eyes. Apparently getting shot in the face is exhausting.

\-- 

The next time he wakes, there's afternoon light in the window, which makes him wonder if he's confused about the time and it's still today, or if he was talking to Steve in the night--must have been, if it wasn't light out, but then, wasn't there something about the morning? He thinks it must be tomorrow now, but something about contemplating whether today is tomorrow seems all wrong. Well, he can work that out later.

Steve's snoring in the chair next to him; he can't see him at this angle, but he knows that sound. There's no more gauze in his mouth, but he's thirsty as hell. He tries to say something, but his mouth is dry, so instead he snaps his fingers. Clumsily. Finally on the third try he makes a noise, and Steve startles awake. "Danno?"

Danny waves a hand toward him, flailing actually, until Steve grabs him and then a second later he's standing, still holding onto his fingers. "Hey, I'm here. So, the surgery took a little longer than they expected, but now you're up, I'll call Grace." He starts to turn away, but Danny holds on as hard as he can.

"Nngh?"

"What? I'll be right back. You want some ice before I go?"

Does he want some ice. Danny tries to scowl, but his jaw doesn't really bend that way right now, so he waves in the general direction of his own face. "hyyy?"

"Why'd it take longer?"

Thumbs up.

"Nothing serious. The inside of your mouth was pretty cut up, and they had some more cleanup and stitching to do in there before they could put your jaw where it goes, make you pretty again."

Danny reaches again, and Steve grabs his hand. 

"You're fine, babe. I'm just gonna call Gracie. You be okay while I go four feet away?"

It occurs to Danny there's a common gesture that isn't a thumb _or_ a middle finger (actually there are a lot, but half the ones involved in their work include putting the hand up next to the face or something, and he's pretty sure socking himself in the side of the head is a bad, _bad_ idea right now. Something Steve would do, which makes him want to laugh but he can't do that, either). He puts his hand out flat and waggles side to side. 

"Hang loose?" Steve grins and Danny _knows_ he's not misunderstanding _iffy_ , so he rolls his eyes, and Steve winks and bends down to press their foreheads together. "Has to be killing you, doesn't it, the no talking."

"Nngh." Danny manages to land his hand on the back of Steve's head and hold him there for a minute.

Finally, Steve noses at his forehead then stands back and points at the phone. "I'll be right here."

Thumbs up. Thumbs up, and eyes closed.

\-- 

"I told you, he's pretty banged up, lots of bandages, but he's gonna be okay," Steve says. He's talking a little loud, but Danny's not really _asleep_ asleep. Just kind of dozing. He opens his eyes. "Muh...ee!"

"Danno! Uncle Steve says you can't talk."

Danny shrugs the shoulder of the arm that isn't full of needles. 

"He says it's really a challenge for you, having to choose just a few words."

Danny tries to figure out how to answer that briefly and in language appropriate for his daughter, but really, all he wants to do anyway is hug her, so he opens his free arm and waves her in. Steve helps her up onto the bed with him. "Go easy, Grace."

She looks at Danny. "Is this Uncle Steve's first rodeo?"

Danny snorts, then winces, and shakes his head. "No," he manages pretty clearly. "'E's 'en in a few."

"Don't make him talk, munchkin," Steve says. "Remember, his jaw's wired shut so it can heal."

"Like a cast," she says seriously. She peers across at the bandaged side of his face. "And a new scar," she adds.

"'mm o-ay," Danny says. He figures he'll get better at this, but right now between swelling, soreness, and drugs, he's nearly useless at everything, and that definitely includes talking like a normal person. Steve would be way better at lying around not saying anything--not that he wants Steve to take any more bullets to the anywhere.

"I know," Grace says. "Uncle Steve won't let anything happen. He promised." Steve's watch beeps, and she drops down to carefully nestle in close on Danny's chest. "That's the one-minute warning," she explains.

"No," Danny says, glaring at Steve over her head. 

"Yes," Steve says. "Short doses of Grace right now, long doses of sleep."

Because that's always what Steve does when he's hurt, of course: stay immobilized in bed exactly as the doctor ordered. Danny wraps his arm around Grace and buys them another fifteen seconds before she--the little traitor--squirms loose. "See you tomorrow, Danno," she sings out as she looks up at Steve. "Right?"

Danny wishes he could laugh again at the tone she drops on Steve, or at Steve's response. Then he realizes it's probably just as funny to Steve when she manages him. But that's fine. He feels better for the visit, and she'll be back tomorrow. Steve will be back tonight.

\-- 

"Hey, brah." Kono comes up next to the bed and peers at Danny's bandages. "You look like shit."

Danny glares. 

"Good thing we have her to handle situations where diplomacy is called for, huh?" Chin comes up behind her and smiles over her shoulder at Danny. "We heard you were in for two more days before they reassess. Sorry we didn't bring flowers."

"I wanted to," Kono says, "but he says you're too Jersey for that. Something about your masculinity being impeached."

Chin shakes his head behind her and points ridiculously at her, then holds up a stuffed bear. "We went with this, instead."

Just then, Steve walks in with an enormous bouquet of some kind of blue lily thing (lily? Danny has no idea; it's not his area and anyway, they're pretty, and that's all that matters). Kono and Chin laugh, and Steve looks at them, perplexed. "What, flowers are no longer the hospital visitor gift of choice?"

"Ay are," Danny says. He directs Steve around the foot of the bed with hand signals and points at the sill. "Ioo are all..." He waves his hands again, then pats the bed for Steve to sit. "Niper?"

"Nah, let us worry 'bout that," Chin says.

Steve pats Danny's thigh. "Tell you all about it when you can ask questions of more than two words," he says. "For now, it's all flowers and bears. Oh, and--" He reaches into a pocket and hauls out a card. "You're supposed to tell the nurse what you want for dinner. Your choices are: pureed chicken and fruit, pureed chicken and vegetables, pureed chicken and rice, or, and this is my suggestion, pureed ham and pineapple pizza. I think they'll let you pick the color of straw, too."

Danny shakes his head and offers a deep sigh. "Yuu all suck."

"Yeah, well, you go jumping in front of bullets, babe, this is what you get." Steve smiles like he's not being a dick, and Kono and chin grin with him, so Danny makes _yeah, yeah_ motions and lets then keep ribbing (and takes notes, because obviously he's going to have to repay this eventually) until after a while, Chin and Kono have a couple of things to run down and Steve makes himself at home in the chair in the corner until it's time to go get Gracie.

Grace, because she is an angel and a perfect daughter, brings him a milkshake when she shows up. He can't eat it all--they're giving him nutrition as well as fluids through the IV, and his stomach is still not that sure about, oh, everything, but the nurse helps them, and he gets a few sips in before she crawls up and plants herself across his chest again. This part of being injured, he's really okay with.

\-- 

By day four, Danny is so extremely ready to be back to work he thinks he might pull a McGarrett and climb out the window as soon as Steve heads down the cafeteria for something that is clearly mislabeled as coffee--it doesn't even smell right--but fortunately, his doctor, a fine woman of excellent sense, realizes he's considering ways to render her unconscious even as she examines the sutures, and purses her lips. "Your partner, he's looking out for you?" she asks.

"Nngh," Danny agrees.

"He'll keep you from doing anything stupid like running?" Danny snorts at this and shakes his head. 

""Ee runs. I _drive_ ," he explains, his words still muffled but fairly clear now that he's getting used to the restriction and things are starting to feel firmer all around. "What cars were made for."

She smiles. "Good answer. Then I think we can take the sutures out today."

"An' go home?" Most of his IVs are already gone, although painkillers without being able to swallow solids--that seems like a problem.

"Could be. Let's make sure." She takes a device out of her pocket and peels back plastic, then goes to work removing the metal staples from his jaw. "Healing nicely," she says. "There'll be a scar, might need plastics later, or work on the jaw's alignment."

"I'll take it," Danny says.

"You'll need to stay wired shut for another week or so. Pain in the ass," she says, "and after that, we'll see." She pulls at his lip to examine the wires, then nods. "Looks good. I'll be back in an hour to make sure your incisions are staying closed one their own." She considers the IV, then clamps it and pulls the needle free, then drops it and the sutures in the bio-waste bin and turns back to him. "Your jaw _can_ move a little bit, for good reasons, but don't strain it. That'll only pop incisions open, and I assume you don't want that."

"I do not," Danny says.

"Right answer." 

When Steve comes back with sludge in a cup, Danny points at his face. "Go home," he says. 

Steve sets down the cup and comes over to examine the scar. "Doesn't look so bad," he says.

"If I say next time you do this, you just _will_ ," Danny complains. "Impossible."

Steve looks serious as he fetches his cup back. "Hey, I'm _supposed_ to be the dumbass that leaps in front of bullets," he says. "You, this better be a one-time deal."

\-- 

"So, the release papers say you're supposed to blender everything," Steve says as they pull out of the lot.

Danny nods.

"But you don't own a blender."

Danny nods again. "We could stop at Target," he says. He speaks slowly-- _painfully_ slowly, for him--to make sure he's clear.

"Or, you could just move in with me for a while." Steve doesn't look over at Danny as he offers, but then a beat later, he does, fingers drumming on the wheel. "I have a blender already."

"Sensible," Danny said. "But blender'd be good to have."

Steve shrugs. "Well, I mean, if you don't want to..."

Danny turns his head and looks at him, narrowing his eyes. It's not like he doesn't already crash there a couple of times a week, but... "You already moved all my stuff, didn't you? You did. You decided what was best for me, and then you moved my stuff like I'm some sort of invalid to be--ow."

"You hurt yourself talking _already_? We're still at the hospital, practically."

Danny returns to rude gestures. "But you did, didn't you?" he adds.

"Nope." Steve grins. "That was Grace's idea and Kono's assistance." He leaned over. "She said you shouldn't be alone."

"Oh, so emotional blackmail?"

"Plus, she likes the beach."

"That's a yes, then." Danny rolls his eyes. "On the emotional blackmail." 

Steve turns left and comes to a stop at a light, then drops his hand on Danny's thigh. "Plus, I want you there." He glances over the healing wound, at Danny's swollen face and mouth, and looks back up at his eyes. "You know I do."

Danny considers for a minute, then agrees. "Fine. But there will at _no_ point be pureed pizza, pineapple or otherwise."

Steve presses the gas as the light turns green and says "Yeah, okay. But only because I like you."

"You like me? Steven, did you just have a emotion? Because I don't know if I can--"

Steve grins. "Danno, shut up. Doctor's orders." He turns right and takes Danny home.


End file.
